South Sudan





Well, first of anything I have to say that I never thought I would get a shirt from this country, the newest one in the world, so it's absolutely amazing for me what this shirt means in my collection. To make things even better, the history of how I was able to know who was the supplier, to contact him and to get the shirt is, right now, the most difficult I ever had until now. So let me start with it:

What would you do if one day you mark yourself the goal of getting a shirt from one of the most remote federations in the world? Well, in my case I started with what I thought it was the best way of meeting someone who can help me: Facebook. I checked in the Wikipedia and other pages, who are the current players of the team, to search for them in Facebook and ask them for help, while I was sending some mails to every email direction I found. One of the players reply me some time after I started my search, and I have to say that he has been the great help I needed to get this shirt. He offered me to put me in contact directly to the supplier, and helped me to fill the hole of my knowledge about this country, in a little interview that has been amazing for me. The rest is more usual, I put in contact with the supplier, he agreed to sell me a shirt, and here with the help of 2 of the biggest collectors that I know: Sascha from Germany (http://mynationalteamcollection.blogspot.de/) and Nick from the UK (http://www.footballshirtworld.co.uk/blog/) I was able to finally getting that beauty on my own hands.

It's time for that interview I said, since I don't know absolutely anything about South Sudan, their people and their football, I asked him to help me with this, and here you have the results, I hope you like this text as much as I like it:


Ladulé Lako LoSarah

1. Let us first know a little more about yourself as a football player.

My dad was a refugee from South Sudan during the first civil war, so I was born and raised in California, USA. There I played in the top local youth program of the California Heat Soccer Club (the same club as Landon Donovan and Maurice Edu, most famously). Afterward, I played in the NCAA university league. When I finished university, a scout watched one of my games and invited me to trial in Macedonia. In Europe I signed for one season with FK Bregalnica Štip in the Macedonian Premier League. The season was not so successful for me so, at the end, I returned to the United States to play for the San Diego Flash with Warren Barton. After two good seasons with San Diego, I moved to Central FC in the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League for one season, but left halfway through as I got a great offer to play for Maziya S&RC in the Maldives during their AFC Cup 2013 campaign. We were eliminated in the group stages but I was spotted by Rayong United in the Thai 1st Division. Moving there in June 2013. After a hard relegation battle, we ended up in the 2nd Division. So in 2014, I moved to Germany with FC Inter Leipzig where I am now in the Oberliga..

2. The first time you knew that South Sudan, the newest country in the world, wanted to select you for their national team, what did you thought?

Since independence, I always knew there was a possibility of playing for South Sudan, as the SSFA organized their 1st ever National Team. They were looking for South Sudanese players who were professional abroad. They contacted me and I joined the preparation camp before the 2013 Cecafa Tournament, getting very sick while with the team in Kenya, meant I could only play one game.

3. How is the country? What do you think that South Sudan has that people worldwide doesn't know?

The country is full of potential, as determined people are trying to piece their lives back together after decades of war. The people just want peace, security and happiness after all the fighting.

4. How is football lived in South Sudan?

Football is the number 1 sport in South Sudan, loved by young and old, rich and poor, men and women. The stadium is always full for matches in Juba, people wear jerseys of all the world's famous players, and children kick football around everywhere they can. The infrastructure is still developing and even with the national team we train on a dirt pitch sometimes. It's up to the government and the SSFA to invest in the football future of the country's football by building fields and educating coaches for success in the future.

5. What can you tell us about the national team?

The national team still needs quite a bit of development. Coaching stability would be an important 1st step as we have had many different coaches since we started in 2012. The training facilities must improve and we need equipment. But despite all that, the players are highly motivated, giving everything they can for the success of the nation, there are also many talent players living outside South Sudan because of the war, so the SSFA needs to bring all those talented players into the training camps to select the best squad. If everything can be gotten together, the future is bright for the Bright Star!

6. Since the World Cup has been played those recent days, what is your opinion about the level that African football has? What are your expectations for the future about it?

Only two African nations progressed to the second round (and none beyond that), it was not the best tournament for Africa. Despite that, the level of football has improved dramatically as Ghana and Algeria showed heroic displays against the champions, Germany. Many talent young players were in the rosters of those teams, so hopefully the experience will help them in the future competitions.

7. As a professional player, do you have any preferences about clubs, players...?

Thierry Henry has been my hero and inspiration ever since I watched him when I was a kid during the 1998 World Cup. Because of that, Arsenal has been my favourite team. As for my dream, I think I'd enjoy playing for St. Pauli in Germany, the most because of their club and fan culture.

8. If there is any more thing that you want to explain, this is the place.

It was the biggest honor of my entire career to represent South Sudan. It's my hope that the SSFA will invest its money well for the development of football in the country, leading to success in the future, there must be some changes because now there are many problems as the current coach has identified in his most recent interview.


Well, here you have his words, I think no one better to speak about his country and let us know a little more about what football and Africa is, not just the things we see on the TV.


Here you have the shirt being used against Mozambique, in one of their most recent matches.

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